"xxx" Khuzdul
~"xxx"~ Sindarin
**"xxx"** Emma's language
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**"Shana, Jalila, Mina!"** Emma yells, and her handmaidens rush into her bedroom.
**"Sindor is here, be sure to keep him away from me at all times, no matter what you have to do! You know he annoys me more than everything that roams this earth, and I really don't feel like having a public fight!"**
**"He was already here and has requested that you join him for breakfast."** Mina hesitantly admits.
Emma closes her eyes and sighs. **"Get me dressed then."** She says with a sour face.
Half an hour later Emma walks into the dining hall, accompanied by Jalila, and sits next to Sindor.
**"You wanted to talk."** She says haughtily
**"Sit down sister, and show some manners."**
She clenches her jaw and sits down, noticing that Thorin is looking at her.
**"What are you doing here, Sindor?"**
**"Father has sent me. The tables have turned, the choice is not yours to make anymore."**
**"Meaning?"**
**"Meaning that you don't get to choose whom you will marry, but that they decide who wants you."**
**"You can't do this!"** she hisses at him. **"Does Melo know about this?"**
**"He won't be able to save you this time, sister, he's on diplomatic mission, remember. Won't be back untill after your wedding."** Sindor says with a smug smile on his face.
**"I gather you have been sent to inform them of this?"**
**"I already told Thorin, he has agreed to make the decision withing five days. Just to satisfy my curiousity: did you already make a choice? I am dying to know which one you want."**
**"When will you leave?"**
**"The second the marriage contracts are signed."**
**"That would almost make it worth it."**
**"Go to your rooms sister, I will tell you when a decision has been made."**
She clenches her jaw again, her lip curling up slightly in anger though invisible to anyone, but gets up and walks to her rooms. But when she is leaving the dining hall, Thorin grabs her elbow. She looks up and sees he is walking next to her.
"Yes, your highness?"
"I have been informed by your brother that you would prefer to let me and my nephews decide."
"I hope it pleases you, your highness."
"I suspect it is not your decision at all."
She keeps walking, neither answering nor looking at him.
"I want you to know that it is still your decision. Just tell me when you know, and I will present it as my ruling."
"Do whatever you please, your highness, I am sure it will please me as well."
"Emma, I am trying to help you here!" he says, frustration dripping from his every word.
But she just slightly bows to him and continues enters her room.
For the next five days, Emma only leaves her rooms to train, taking her every meal by herself and not receiving visitors.
"I would like a word in private with the princess please. And don't mistake my sentence sounding like a question for it actually being a question."
"I shall see if she can receive you, your highness."
Jalila walks into Emma's bedroom. **" The king would like to speak to you in private, may I send him in?"**
**"No. Tell him I am not receiving visitors."**
**"He did not actually mean it as a question, he just put it like that to be polite, I guess."**
**"Fine, send him in then, but please put on my vail first. Shana, you stay here."**
When Emma's vail is properly put on, Jalila tells Thorin to enter the room.
"Emma." He says with a small bow.
"Your highness." She says with a nod. "Mina will stay here, she does not speak the common tongue. What may I do for you?"
"I am aware that you have not yet let me know whom you wish to marry, but I wish to disclose possible impediments to you. And today, I have gotten news that such an impediment may exist."
"Yes, your highness?"
"I used to have a, eeeh, consort, sort of speak. She has come to inform me that she is with child."
"And in which way should this concern me, your highness?" Emma says coldly
"Well, if we were to marry I would already have a child, one that is older than children we might have."
Emma shrugs her shoulders. "The child is a bastard, not unheard of. I still don't see how this would concern me, your highness."
"Please do not refer to my child as a bastard."
"I think that title describes the situation of the child perfectly. Even if she is your One, you would have to marry her quite soon to convince the court that the child is legitimate, and I doubt there is enough time for that, your highness."
"She is not my One and I shall not marry her, but I dislike the term 'bastard'".
"Then I shall find some other suitable title. Now, was that all, your highness?"
"No, I would like to talk to you about something else."
"What may that be, your highness?"
"Must you really keep calling me 'your highness'?" Thorin asks frustrated and irritated.
"I would feel most comfortable with us adressing eachother in a formal matter. But please, do tell me what you would like to talk about, your highness." Emma said in a way that would make sure there was little else she was less interested in than what Thorin wanted to say.
"Well, I was wondering if you already found your, eeh, One."
"My One? Yes, I daresay I have met him, but he is gone. Would that be all, your highness?"
"No, not really."You say he is gone, has he passed away?"
"No, your highness".
"Did he disappear then?"
"No, your highness."
"Then how can he be gone?"
"He just is. Now, would you like to pry into my private life more or may I go to my boxing training, your highness?"
"Would you permit me to accompany you?"
"If that is your wish, you may, you are the king. But if you would excuse me for a moment, I need to change, your highness."
"Most certainly, I shall wait in the antechamber."
And with a small bow, Thorin leaves the room and Jalila enters it.
**"What did he want?" Jalila and Mina ask.
**"He wanted to inform me that he will be having a bastard soon. And now he is coming to my boxing training with me, I have no idea why. This is all very annoying."**
**"My lady, please do excuse the question, but you always loved his highness. You even thought he was your One when you were younger. What has changed, why are you not telling him to marry you?" Jalila asks while she is helping Emma in her training clothes.
**"I did love him. But he did something unforgivable, and I believe my feelings to have changed."**
**"But feelings for a One can't change. Was he your One then?**
**"He was, but my feelings can change. Now just put on a tighter vail and stop talking about this boring subject."**
Shana puts a tighter vail on Emma, allowing her to move freely during her training, and they walk to the antechamber. There, Thorin can only stare at the tight, and therewith revealing, clothes Emma is wearing, biting his lip before he composes himself again.
"My lady, if you are ready, shall we?" he says as he extends his arm to her.
"Yes, your highness." Emma says, walking out of the room without taking Thorin's arm.
Once arrived in the practice area, Emma sees that Sindor and Jeron are already waiting for her, the latter ready to train her. She turns her back to the other people and Jeron puts her teethprotection in her mouth and puts on her headprotection. When he has put on her gloves and puts on his own, they are ready to start. They begin with some slow attacks and blocks, after which they have a practice match, swinging real punches at eachother.
"The princess is quite good, isn't she?" Thorin whispers to Jalila, who is sitting next to him, although whispering was not really necessary as the others are sitting far enough away from them.
"She is, but Jeron would never use his full force on her; she simply isn't strong enough for that."
"And has she done much sword practice? I mean, I know she can wield a sword, but does she practice often with it"
"No, not really. I mean, she can use a sword properly, and defend herself, but she is much better with a bow."
"And why has she never trained with a sword?"
"I am not sure, your highness. I think she wanted to, but her father wasn't much of a supporter of the idea. He only let her train a little bit before she went on the journey with you."
Thorin just hums, an idea forming in his head.
"Your highness, may I speak confidential with you?"
Thorin looks at her a bit strange, surprised by such a forward question by a handmaiden. "You may."
"But will you promise to not tell anyone?"
"I will."
"Well, I eeeh, I.."
"Yes?" he says a bit unpatiently.
"I believe it is important for you to know that lady Emma is not as cold as she seems."
"And why would you tell me that?"
Jalila starts blushing. "Because I think, well, I think she wants to marry you, deep inside."
"Would she now?"
"But she will never say anything, and her half-brother will want an answer today, so I thought, perhaps…..as the week has almost passed….."
"I see what you mean. Has she asked you to tell me this?"
"No, your highness, and please don't tell her I told you this! She has said nothing at all about the subject, but we have been friends for a long time and I know what she feels."
"Thank you for telling me this, I shall take it under consideration."
Jalila just nods, relieved that she has told the king, but afraid he might mention it to Emma. But then the boxing match has ended and Thorin gets up.
"Lady Emma, I see you are quite accomplished at boxing. Would you like to improve your swordskills? Kili could practice with you right now."
Emma looks at her half-brother, but his face gives nothing away, so she answers: "I would, your highness."
"Then please come, or would you like to have a break first?"
"That won't be necessary, your highness."
Kili, having heard his uncles question, is standing in the next pit, a practice sword already in his hands. She walks into the pit and also takes a sword.
"Want to do some attack-defend moves?"
"Whatever you think is best."
As they start, Thorin sits closer, observing what Emma can do, but also looking at her well formed figure, which shows in her tight training clothes. His thoughts wander of to what her face may look like and how it may have changed over the years, a thought that has kept popping up in his head over the last days.
Emma and Kili have found a rhytm and keep going faster and swinging harder. It is obvious that Emma enjoys the training, untill she misses one of Kili's swings and he hits her in her ribs. Everyone clearly hears the 'crack' noise as he does, and they see Emma's eyes widening as she grips her side, the sudden movement causing a strand of her hair to fall out from under her vail and cascading over her back.
"Mahal! Are you alright?" Kili asks Emma while everyone else runs into the pit.
"I am fine, I just need to breath a bit. I will be fine in a minute."
**"You will go to your rooms right now."** Sindor barks at her.
She glances at him angrily, and then leaves the pit, her hands still clutching at her side. Thorin may not have understood what Sindor said, but he gets that she has to leave.
"Please, let me escort you." He says to Emma, while taking her arm to support her. The others also follow, except for Kili, who is getting a healer.
Once arrived in her rooms, Sindor pulls Emma to her bedroom, barking at the handmaidens to leave. They stand in the antechamber, together with Thorin and Jeron, and they hear Sindor scream.
**"What the hell was that?! You know father does not wat you to train with swords!"**
**"I don't think that is any of his business anymore."**
**"No? And you showing your hair to everyone is also not his business?"**
**"It was an accident, Sindor. Let it go and let me get changed and look at my ribs."** Emma sighs.
In the meantime, Thorin has asked Jalila to translate for him. As she can not ask for Emma's approval or disproval to do so, she hesitantly does.
"He is upset that she trained with swords, and that her hair showed."
**"Accident or not, you do not show your hair. You look like a whore!" Sindor screams.
**"A whore? Just because your mother was one before she fucked her way into a marriage with my father, does not mean I have such low morals!"** Emma now screams back, extremely frustrated by the pain and her brother unreasonableness.
"And what do they say now?" Thorin asks Jalila
"Well, eeeeh.."
But before she can translate for him, they hear the sound of a smack, and Jalila's eyes widen. Thorin runs into the bedroom before Jalila can stop him, and he sees Emma standing there, holding her cheek with her hand and with very dark eyes. Sindor is looking at her with smugness in his eyes, seemingly enjoying the whole scene. Thorin quickly stands between them trying to prevent things from escalating further. Emma wants to strike at Sindor, who has already backed away from her, but Thorin gently holds her shoulders, trying to make her look at him instead of at her half-brother.
**"Can't take hearing it, HALF-brother? Can't take hearing that your mother was my father's private whore and he only married her so you wouldn't be a bastard? Can't take hearing how she was never as good as my mother?"** she shrieks
**"I don't need to hear such filth and lies!** he screams back. **"And everyone knows how father hates you! Why else would he send you here, parading you in front of three men, hoping one of them will marry you so he is rid of you! So perhaps you really are a whore, trying to get the likes of those men! Tell me, hpw often have you spread your legs for them already?"**
The handmaidens gasp, and Jeron runs into the bedroom to drag Sindor out of it, while Emma just stands there, looking at Sindor with fiery ice in her eyes. Once Sindor is out of the room, the handmaidens run in and Emma shrugs of Thorin's hands of her shoulders.
"If you would excuse me, your highness, I would like to bathe and change now."
"Certainly Emma. Might I borrow Jalila for a moment?"
Emma looks at Jalila suspiciously, but nods. She just wants Thorin to leave the room. Once in the antechamber, Thorin asks Jalila what Sindor and Emma said.
"Well, eeeh, your highness, it is a bit, well, eeh, personal."
"Please tell me nonetheless. Or should I speak with the princess about things you have said?"
"Please don't, your highness, I shall tell you!"
And she tells him which words were exchanged between Emma and Sindor, causing a look of horror on his face.
"Thank you for explaining this to me. Now do tell, which jewelry does the princess like?"
"Why, your highness?"
"I do not think that I need to explain my motives to you."
"You are right, your highness, I apologize. She has difficult taste in jewelry, but it is mostly white gold, diamonds and pearls she likes."
"Thank you. Now go back and take care of the princess, the healer should arrive shortly. And remember: do not say anything of what we have spoken of. Just tell her you refused to translate."
"Yes, your highness."
As Jalila goes back to Emma's rooms, Thorin walks to his study and orders a servant to fetch his nephews. When they arrive, the three men sit in the lounge chairs next to the fire.
"I am so sorry uncle, I really did not mean for something like that to happen!"
"I know, don't worry about it, that is not why I have called you here."
"What happened?" Fili asks
"Kili has probably broken some of Emma's ribs while practicing swordfighting with her. But again: not the purpose of this meeting. I have asked you here to finally determine who shall marry her."
"You are joking right, uncle?" Fili says while smirking.
"Why?"
"Because we have known for a very long time that she is your One, uncle. We have no intention whatsoever to take her away from you." Kili laughs
"Yes, we were wondering why you didn't start courting her earlier." Fili snickers.
"Well, I, I mean, we have not, well, she is not…" Thorin tries to reply.
But Fili and Kili are already getting up. "Go get her first courting gift, uncle. And don't worry; we have a sneaking suspicion she likes you as well." And they walk away, softly laughing.
Thorin sits back and rubs his forehead. After a while, he gets up and walks to the forges, telling the smiths to bring him what he needs. When he gets his supplies, he goes to work, forgetting everything around him as he makes his first of seven courting gifts.
Just as he is done, a servant approaches him. "I am very sorry to disturb you, your highness, but your, eeh, former friend is here and she wishes to speak to you."
"My former friend? Oooh, yes, my former friend. Please inform her that I shall be with her shortly."
The servant bows and leaves. Half an hour later, Thorin walks into his antechamber and sees his former consort sitting there. She jumps up as he enters and bows.
"Come on Jess, no need for that."
"I am sorry to just walk in here, Thorin, but my father does want me at home while I am pregnant, he is afraid I might taint the reputation of the family. I am on my way to my aunt right now, but I can not find a place to sleep. May I please sleep in Erebor tonight?"
Thorin frowns a little, but then says: "Of course you may, I shall have rooms made ready for you. How are you feeling?"
"I am fine, I had already expected my father to react this way."
"But what after the child is born?"
"I-I was hoping the child might be raised here….." she softly says.
Thorin sighs. "I will think of a suitable solution. Now go freshen up and then come to the dinner hall for supper."
"Thank you, Thorin." She says as she smiles at him.
"Of course, any time. And if you wish to remain here, please know that you can, I will find a house and something to do for you."
"Would you really?"
"Certainly. But please, for the immediate future: do not tell people of your pregnancy. My intented is here and I would not like it for her to be confronted with you before I have had the time to explain everything."
"Of course not, no one need know."
"Thank you. Now go to your former rooms and I will see you at supper."
But servants always gossip, and before long, everyone, including Emma's handmaidens, knows that the king's former, and pregnant, consort is back at Erebor.
In the meantime, the healer is looking at Emma's ribs. It is a bit of an awkward situation; her face is covered, but the healer can almost see all of her naked upper body, she is only covering her breasts with her arm for some modesty.
"Yes, yes, I see dear. Two broken ribs. I am afraid you will have to refrain from strenuous physical activities for a while. And be carefull with corsets; they may not be pulled too tight."
Emma sighs. "Fine, thank you for your visit."
"Any time dear, any time." The healer says as he walks out of the room with a small bow.
"Well, lets get me dressed and go for a drink in the dinner hall then. Supper shouldn't be too long now."
Her handmaidens bathe her, do her make-up and her hair, put a dress on and her vail. They make their way to the dinner hall where they all sit at a table together and drink some mead, talking about the events of the day, but mostly of what an asshole Sindor is and of the arrival of Thorin's former consort.